Veritatis Splendor: The Answer to the Question of Conscience in Amoris Laetitia.

If you’re not familiar with St. John Paul II encyclical Veritatis Splendor you should be. Even if you don’t read the whole thing read chapter 2 and pay attention to paragraph 32. It will clear up the fog on personal conscience that Amoris Laetitia has covered the land with. By the way, the Church didn’t see JPII as rigid, psychologically unstable, or mean hearted…think about that for a while. In posterity, I think most consider him a loving papa, man of the Church, and long suffering servant of Christ that tried to protect us from the evil of our culture.

VS is an encyclical which carries great magisterial weight and chapter 2 was intended to address the very quagmire of a subjectivism we find ourselves in today. JPII was ahead of his time and did his best to prepare answers that will protect and guide the Church through the present and visible storms ahead.

I recommend prioritizing his writings on your reading list. Your days will be full of “ah-ha” moments if you do but be warned they will also be filled with “here’s the answer, why are we asking it again” moments too. For instance, JPII synod on the family between 1980-81 already answered all the question posed at the 2014-15 synod. Familiaris Consortio already addressed all the points in Amoris Laetitia. There’s only two reasons for both, a reform is intended or we just like spending time and money.

By the way, here is a nice paper on conscience from the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Happy Reading!